Once again, the Loose Button Luxe Box has creeped up on me! I always forget about it because of its quarterly delivery, but the products inside are always so luxe that I get so excited when I know it’s coming! I didn’t think I’d enjoy the quarterly subscription, but I think the Luxe Box works MUCH better this way and the product selection is much more consistent than when I first signed up 2 years ago. For the Fall Luxe Box, I opted for the Shu Uemura upgrade for an extra $7 as I was just too curious about the Cleansing Oil Shampoo! The rest of the box was pretty good too so read on to find out more about it!

I missed out on an Estee Lauder nail polish collection last year and vowed that I would not repeat history this year so I couldn’t say no when I saw this four polish collection for $34 at Shoppers Drug Mart! The colours are beautiful and now that I realize I have become a true collector of nail polish, I knew I had to have an Estee Lauder bottle in my collection. I just thank God I don’t collect cars!

With the holidays comes glitter and shimmer in all forms and functions and Make Up For Ever has got some beautiful products for you or a loved one this holiday season!

MAKE UP FOR EVER is pleased to introduce the Midnight Holiday Collection... an assortment of products that will make any holiday outfit sparkle! The Midnight Glow palette is perfect for creating a variety of looks for the winter months with its pearly and dramatic colors, compliment it with the new limited edition Aqua Rouge Satin Soft Pink and some strass & glitters to be the star of your parties.

Reviews coming soon! Which product are you most looking forward to? I always love the MUFE palettes and glitters!

I have never done Movember nail art before and when I saw these multi-coloured moustache nail art studs on Born Pretty, I knew the time had finally come! Moustaches have suddenly become extremely popular over the last little while and I really had a hard time coming up with a design that was novel and hadn’t been done before. I can’t say that I came up with anything particularly creative, but it sure was fun to wear while it lasted!

I really wanted to use as many of the moustache colours as possible when I realized that Trelly’s Milk and Marshmallows went perfectly with my multi-coloured moustache mani! Say that three times fast!

Joanne is herself a science wonder woman and has the most entertaining and educational website especially when it comes to beauty products so definitely check out Joanne Loves Science! I am totally on Helium Cloud 9 right now! The article itself is quite interesting and makes me want to get more young girls interested in science and do more science nail art!

One thing I l always look forward to around the holidays is seeing how much more awesome Benefit Cosmetics packaging can get and this year I happened to spy quite the beauty of gift sets! There are a few versions of these Benefit sets, including smaller tins that instead of full sizes, have deluxe sized products of Benefit bestsellers, but all are bound to get the heart rate of any makeup lover racing! I purchased mine at Shoppers Drug Mart as it was 20x the points day and chose “Primed for Lovin” as I loved almost all of the products inside and knew I would use everything!

First of all, these collectible tins had me from the get go! All I could think of was how cute this would look on my dresser (filled with product of course)!

Included inside are FULL SIZED items of: The Porefessional, High Beam and They’re Real Mascara plus a mini of the SugarbombUltra Plush Lip Gloss. Can you believe that all of this retails at $109 and it’s currently selling for only $50?! If your Shoppers Drug Mart carries the Benefit Cosmetics line, I would wait until there is either a 20x or redemption event because it is an AMAZING value! Or if you just can’t wait to get this for yourself or a loved one, call your Beauty Boutique and put one on hold like NOW!

I am in love. I am positively swooning over Trelly’s M.I.S.C. Polish – Milk and Marshmallows today and I cannot get over how whimsical and fun this milky white, multi-coloured glitter is! I bought this polish as part of the Lucky Charms Duo and had to have them as I owned no polishes like them! I love the heart and star glitter and of course the circle glitter! I know I’m not the only one who is thinking of Lucky Charms when I see this polish! In terms of application, it was a little bit thicker in consistency, but still very easy to work with. I’m wearing three coats for full opacity. I have more pictures than usual because I just couldn’t decide which picture was best so I thought I’d share them all with you!

There are days when you just want to use glitter “straight up” and this mani is exactly that. I started off with two coats of Nicole by OPI-Spring Break, an absolutely beautiful stunningly bright blue based pink, from the Selena Gomez collection.

I followed with two coats of Nicole by OPI – She’s Lily Something, from the Modern Family collection which was a bit of a hassle to apply as the stars were all the way at the bottom of the bottle. I ended up having to dump out the polish onto some paper and go glitter fishing. I was too lazy to apply the stars by hand leading to the look seen below.

Have you ever had one of those days where you just want to keep it simple?

Last Thursday, L’Occitane had their (I believe annual?) Glam Holiday Party where all regularly priced merchandise is 20% off and as always, there is a gift with purchase! I can’t show you guys the items I picked up as they are Christmas gifts, but I thought the gift with purchase was so cute that I had to share! This year’s theme centered around how to survive the holidays which is definitely on my mind right now! The holidays petrify me and all I can think about is how overwhelming it always ends up feeling! Let’s see if this little kit will help me to emerge unscathed!

I have been making my way through Lush’s Fresh Face Masks as I trade in my empty pots and my latest one has been Lush’s Oatifix, a banana mask for sensitive, dry and/or irritated skin. I often have dry and/or dehydrated skin so Oatifix seemed like the natural next mask to try for me. Oats, specifically Avena sativa, is a commonly used cereal grain that we can harvest, eat and in this case, put on our faces! Oats in combination with bananas can really soften and moisturize dry and irritated skin making it a perfect product for the colder season when dryness and redness are more of an issue with my skin.

Scent: I only smell banana even though there is supposed to be vanilla as well. Banana is one of the most pungent scents ever and tends to permeate and overpower most other scents!

Formula: Easily spreadable with no stray chunks and bits like the BB Seaweed Fresh Face Mask. I found both the scent and formula very comforting and so far, this mask is a definite winner for me! My face doesn’t feel stripped of moisture after using Oatifix and feels soft and hydrated after rinsing. Some masks give me that squeaky clean feeling which is fine when I want a clarifying mask, but with Oatifix, I almost don’t feel the need to wear a moisturizer upon rinsing. I can leave my face as is without it feeling tight or dry.

You can see from the ingredients list that glycerine, oatmeal and bananas are the very first ingredients all before water which is always nice to see. Glycerine is often used as a soap for people with sensitive or easily irritated skin because of its moisturizing properties. Glycerine draws moisture through the skin slowly preventing evaporation and drying.

Final Verdict: The smell is usually the first thing that sells me so having a mask that smells like banana bread made me fall in love with Oatifix prematurely! The actual product was something my skin really enjoyed as it did feel soothed and hydrated after use and was not a hassle to apply. Although there is no sun out now, I can see how soothing this mask would be after a day on the beach. As far as my Fresh Face Mask journey goes, Oatifix is one that I would certainly buy again and recommend to anyone with dry or winter-irritated skin.

You’re not experiencing deja vu nor have I forgotten that I have already posted about my September Wantable Box, but today I just thought I’d share with you my non-PR Wantable Box. I have already been a subscriber of Wantable since their debut in Canada earlier this year and was curious to see if a regular subscriber box would be any different than a PR box. I used two different email addresses for sign up so I am fairly certain now that the PR box I received is a fair depiction of what any subscriber would receive in their box. The non-PR version was just as awesome and I only received one duplicate product!

Whenever I swatch a solid colour, I can never leave it alone for too long before I start adding something to it. I think I’m just not used to seeing my nails “bare” and I’ve had people ask me if I was “doing okay” when they don’t see some form of nail art on them!

I picked up a giant sheet of feather nail decals from Born Pretty and have been waiting for the perfect base colour to pair them off with. Well, the time came when I wore Revlon-Italian Leather and out came some pink feathers!

Wearing these have been such a blast! I definitely feel like I’m cheating a little bit when it comes to wearing nail decals, but how can anyone not love how fun, easy and FAST these are to use?

I think this will be my last swap for awhile as I have just WAY too much product now and need some time (a few millennia) to get through it all! This is my second time swapping with the lovely Sian and took about 4 months to make it to me! The box was pretty destroyed by the time I got it into my hands and weighed quite a bit! Sian always gets the best stuff and is always so thoughtful when it comes to what she chooses for me so when it comes to swaps, I totally trust her!

When I first saw the Revlon Parfumerie collection released in the US, I figured it was another collection that we Canadians would be deprived of yet again, but when I asked Revlon on Twitter whether these would be available in Canada and they said yes, I was elated! I have been dying for this collection to show up since last month and when I finally spotted a fresh new display at London Drugs a few days ago, I was literally shaking with excitement! The bottles are absolutely adorable and the scents and colours look spectacular!

The very first colour that I had to try on was Italian Leather as my curiosity was peaked by how Revlon managed to package the scent of leather into a polish. Just to let everyone know, the scent only appears once the polish has dried, so don’t go sniffing the actual polish from the bottle!

Disappointingly, it smells sweet, almost like candy. Maybe Italian leather smells different from regular leather? Even though the scent wasn’t quite right, the formula and colour are to die for! What I’m wearing is 2 coats that applied just BEAUTIFULLY!

After saying goodbye to Glymm, Glossybox and most recently Seasonsbox, I thought that maybe I could treat myself to one more subscription box. After discovering Petit Vour through My Subscription Addiction (don’t look here EVER if you think you might waver in willpower!) I knew this was the next subscription to try as it is a vegan-friendly beauty box! Now, I am not a vegan, but the idea of having a beauty box with cruelty-free products really intrigued me so I figured for $25/month, I’d give it a try.

Petit Vour was created by Madeline Alcott and is available for US subscribers as a monthly ($15), 3 month ($45) and 6 month ($90) subscription. If you’re a Canadian subscriber, the choice is easy. You get one choice and that’s an auto-renewing monthly subscription for $25/month. Shipping is FREE in all cases!

Like most beauty box subscriptions, there is also a reward system where 50 PV points can be earned with each monthly survey. At 1500 PV points, you will receive a FREE Petit Vour box so I think it might be awhile for me! You do get 300 PV points for referring friends, but I’ve come not to rely on points anymore as both Glymm and Glossybox screwed subscribers out of their points in the end. I now just focus on the actual products that I receive!

With the wedding and its aftermath, I haven’t had a lot of time to do any tutorials, but I managed to squeak this one out last week! I really loved how this turned out and LOVE LOVE the polishes from the new OPI Miss Universe Collection especially the new satin finish! Shown below is OPI – This Gown Needs a Crown and is super smooth to the touch while still looking textured in appearance.

If any of you would like to try the tutorial, you can find it over at The Prom Show!

At the end of August, Topbox alerted subscribers to a special Chatelaine Edition Topbox upon signing up for a Chatelaine magazine subscription. After receiving a copy of Chatelaine in the September Topbox, I decided to sign up for a yearly subscription as the magazine was surprisingly interesting (aka “I’m getting old”) and was at promotional pricing ($14.95/12 issues).

I made it! The very last day of the week! For this last week of the #busygirlnails challenge, I started off with two coats of China Glaze-IX which is the richest, most gorgeous dark brown I have ever used! I then used some gold water nail decals from Born Pretty and then a blue vinyl nail diamond decal from Beyond the Nail which I am LOVING! I kind of went for a jewellery-inspired look and I cannot get enough of it!

I enjoyed every week of this mini challenge and of course seeing everyone’s designs! I guess now it’s time for those Christmas nail designs! Bring on the snowflakes, candy cane swirls and reindeer!

I know it’s totally not the right season for such a bright and fun colour, but in the world of nail polish, I honestly think that any colour works with any season. Wearing dark fall colours all the time sort of bums me out. I’ve also decided that in an effort to get through my nail polish stash and wear and share with you guys EVERY SINGLE POLISH I own that I am going to focus on at least ONE company each month and just wear polish from them! I have decided to kick off my endeavour with, you guessed it, Trelly’s M.I.S.C Polish! For today’s swatch, I am wearing three coats of Beach Bunny, a bright pink creme with bright blue and pink glitter of all different shapes and sizes. This polish is so awesome! The contrast between the blue and the pink is amazing! Application was very easy and the glitter was just dying to escape from the bottle onto my brush!

In a sea of skincare companies, the ones that catch my attention are the ones that seek to eliminate toxic ingredients and make a conscious effort to ensure that every ingredient is certified organic as the word “organic” can be used a bit too freely today. I recently came across the skincare line OSEA (Ocean, Sun, Earth and Atmosphere), a 100% vegan skincare line made with USDA Certified Organic Seaweed created by Jenefer Palmer. All products are also cruelty-free and biodegradable. The seaweed is harvested from the Patagonian Sea, southwestern stretch of the Atlantic Ocean known for its rich marine life, and is food grade.

I was recently given the opportunity to try the OSEA Ocean Lotion which is a red algae gel-based body moisturizer that is best used on moist skin. The product description also mentions that this is also great for soothing skin after being in the sun and maintaining a suntan.

Formula: This is an everyday moisturizer, but is fairly light so now that we are moving into drier weather, I have only been using Ocean Lotion on my upper body as the skin on my legs is considerably drier. This product absorbs quickly into the skin because of its gel consistency and does leave my skin feeing hydrated and not sticky. The second ingredient in this product is seaweed so it’s good to know that it’s not somewhere at the end. The ingredients following are a healthy mix of “good” oils, anti-aging ingredients (Tocopherol) and shea butter. There isn’t one ingredient here that scares me!

Final Verdict: Based on my experience with Ocean Lotion, I feel like I definitely need to try their facial products. These are the kinds of ingredients that I would love on my face and I am even eyeing up a few travel sets for the upcoming holiday season as a way to sample a bit of everything! There seems to be a product for every skin type when it comes to OSEA, even products for those with rosacea and because of the ingredients, the products seem very gentle, yet effective on the skin.

OSEA ships worldwide with shipping starting at $7.95 for orders to Canada. I wish it was a flat rate, but I think the weight of glass bottles can probably get quite heavy! If you live in the U.S. though, all orders over $50 are entitled to free shipping!

Will you be adding OSEA to your list of skincare products to try?

PR sample sent to me for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are of course my own!

Now that Halloween is over, we can safely say “Christmas is coming” and start getting into holiday mode. I often try to resist until the end of November, but when all of your senses are bombarded with Christmas cheer, you can’t help but get into the spirit whether you want to or not! Part of the holidays involves having more fun with your makeup looks as well and wearing bolder, brighter colours that are almost a must from now until the end of the year!

Today I have another fun product from BA*STAR (see my other review here) that will give you the perfect holiday lip. If you're looking for eye shadows, blushes or mascaras to complete your look, have a look at the rest of the site as I’m sure you will able to find something to make your makeup truly sparkle! I received the BA*STAR Lip Pencil in the colour Holiday Red and when I first saw it, I thought it looked a little too dark to very festive, but once I realized how wrong I was when I swatched it!

A new season means a new assortment of bath products from the Fortune Cookie Soap company! I always love this box and this one smelled warm, cozy and delectable! This is the one box where I have to sniff EVERYTHING because I know I’m missing out if I don’t!

I joke, I would never go into debt for makeup and it scares me to think that there are some people who do! The title just sounded so snappy that I couldn’t resist! I purchased the first set of items when there was a VIB Celebration Bag as a Gift with Purchase and ended up doing another purchase online shortly before my wedding as I was afraid I would run out of my favourite MUFE foundation! I am now waiting for VIB week so that I can do my last round of sinnage for 2013!